1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an identification system and an identification method; particularly, it relates to an identification system and an identification method for identifying a user.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern commodities are often marketed by self-service machines, such as vending machines, self-guider machines or virtual machines which display goods. To some particular users (e.g., members), it is often required to provide more personalized or customized services, such as good inquiries or special orders. Therefore, a highly accurate and secure user authentication system is required.
The automated teller machine (ATM) is a common example of the user authentication system. On modern ATMs, a user is authenticated and identified by inserting a plastic ATM card and entering the personal password. Using an ATM, a user can access his bank account in order to make cash withdrawals, credit card cash advances, utility payments, and account balance checks.
Other types of self-services, such as access control at home or office, online games, online financial transaction for stocks or futures, management of online bank account, or even self-service laundry, all require the capability for identifying the users, to ensure that the self-service is accessed by an authenticated and authorized user (e.g., a member).
The conventional user authentication system requires a card with a magnetic stripe, such as credit cards, door access cards or ATM cards; however, such cards are susceptible to interference by strong external magnetic field, which leads to malfunction or failure. In addition, once the cards are lost, they are easily misappropriated and the user will suffer financial loss and damage in credit rating. Another inconvenience is that the user is unable to access the self-service if he forgets the password. Therefore, it is desired to provide a highly accurate user authentication system which can provide more personalized and customized self-services without the requirement of any magnetic stripe card or any password, thereby overcoming the drawbacks in the prior art.